Captured Moment
by Fantastic Nonsense
Summary: A single photograph lies on the floor of a room. There is nothing over it or around it. It lies on the floor face-down, never showing its contents.  Spoilers for AoG and Doomsday, but if you haven't seen those by now... Ten/Rose.


**I'm just sprouting out fic after fic right now, aren't I? Let's just say I've been inspired. I'm going to try and finish another oneshot I've been working**

**on for a while now. Hopefully that one will be up tonight or tomorrow.**

**Anyway, review, review, review! **

**I know my returning readers probably get tired of me saying that, but reviews help me know what people like and dislike**

**about my writing. So please, if this is the one fic you ever review, please do so!**

**~Aubrey**

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Edit Sept. 2010: Sorry, just minor edits with tenses and stuff.

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**Captured Moment**

A single photograph lies on the floor of a room. There is nothing over it or around it. It lies on the floor face-down, never showing its contents. That photo is one of the most important moments in one man's life.

Turn it over and see the picture. It is of a man and a younger woman, both smiling brilliantly for the camera. The woman has bright blonde hair and is wearing a light blue hoodie over a t-shirt and jeans. The man is wearing a pinstriped suit under a brown trench coat with converse on his feet. He has wild brown hair that sticks up all over the place and is wearing goofy looking spectacles.

They look so happy, holding each other's hands and walking down the street. The street is like one no one's ever seen; bizarre looking creatures are all around them, and the two look like it's the most ordinary thing in the world.

Who are this man and this woman? What are their stories?

The girl was ordinary; her life was dull and monotonous. She got up, went to work, came home, ate chips, and slept. She had a relatively normal life. Then, she was swept off her feet by a magical man. A mysterious being that traveled the universe and saw unimaginable things. She saw amazing things; she saw the sun explode, she saw aliens, a planet orbiting a black hole, a werewolf, and ghosts. She went to the future and to the past, seeing and taking in everything, never missing a beat.

The man was extraordinary. Born on a planet far away from Earth, he was exiled and stole a time machine, going anywhere and any when he wanted to. He traveled with many; none of them stayed. Then, he picked up this one little London shop-girl who changed his life. He's seen her do impossible things. He's seen her open the heart of his machine to come back to him; she absorbed the time vortex for him. She stuck with him after his regeneration. She's battled countless monsters and braved life-threatening situations, and never misses a beat.

They really didn't know at the time; how could they? She was the first one to say _'forever.'_ He so truly wanted that forever, but knew their versions of forever were mismatched. He always knew one day he'd be parted with her, one way or another. He just didn't expect it to be so soon.

A single trip home to visit her mother turned into a wild ghost hunt. They ended up in a place that studied aliens; a place that had been created because of him. They were separated. Neither of them knew it was the last adventure they would have together; how could they?

Two old enemies resurfaced on that day; two of his greatest. They fought each other, but they also fought him. Each one wanted to destroy him, and everything he stood for.

Countless people were murdered that day; but none of the lives lost compare to the loss of his heart. She was so brave and selfless. They had to pull two different levers to send the enemies away; one came loose. She had to let go of the one thing that kept her anchored to pull the lever upright.

She lost her grip. She held on for so long, then just couldn't any longer. She was sucked toward the opening, towards the Void, towards Hell.

At the last moment, her father saves her. But it isn't enough. She is stuck in a parallel world, never to return. The man and woman hold their hands out towards a solid white wall; a universe apart but at the same time together. His heart breaks as he imagines the tears that fall down her face. He breaks the fragile contact they have first; he cannot stand it anymore. The link is broken; she is gone.

One last meeting. Two minutes, he says on that wretched beach she hates so much now. He has two minutes before the connection is sealed off forever. There's so much she wants to say; so little she actually can. She finally spits out the guilty secret she has been harboring almost since the beginning: _'I love you.'_

He doesn't say it back. Oh, how he wanted to. He ran out of time. He got as far as her name before the connection broke. It was a cruel twist of fate, to have her say it to him and him not say it back, even though the feelings were surely reciprocated.

A lone tear trickles down his cheek as he sits in his time machine. He must admit she is gone for good. It is so hard, but he moves, pushing buttons and pulling levers. He has to keep moving, keep running. He's been doing it all his life, he can continue. But he knows deep down he can never run, not from this. It will haunt him all the days of his life; the day he lost his soul mate.

The picture becomes his lifeline for a long time. He looks at it for weeks. Then, he lets it drop onto the floor. He suddenly never wants to look at it again. He never wants to see how her eyes sparkled or her tongue stuck out slightly between her teeth when she laughed. He couldn't bear to see her happy, smiling face and remember what happened.

He never lets anything fall on top of it. He carefully arranges things so that nothing is around it. It serves as a monument of what he lost. What he could have had. What he was never destined to have, but wanted so much.

A single photograph lies on the floor of a room. There is nothing over it or around it. It lies on the floor face-down, never showing its contents. That single, unimportant photograph has suddenly become one of the last pictures the two ever took, one of their last adventures. A captured moment in time.

The photo tells a story of two people who loved each other, even if they did not admit it. It tells of a friendship. But most of all, it tells of heartbreak, of lost moments.

This is the story of the Doctor and Rose.

Edit: Sept. 2010: Sorry about this, just some minor edits changing tenses.


End file.
